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Most Pennsylvanians support marijuana legalization, but would they try it themselves?

Medical marijuana rally at PA state Capitol, Sept. 15, 2014

Medical marijuana supporters rally at the Pennsylvania state Capitol to urge lawmakers to permit the use of the drug for medical purposes, September 15, 2014.
Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
(Dan Gleiter)

If you ask people if you want to be eaten by wolverines, less than 88 percent would say no." Sen. Daylin Leach

With a bill to legalize medical marijuana progressing through the state Legislature, a recent poll showed a significant majority of Pennsylvanians support the measure.

A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,036 registered voters found that 88 percent of respondents approved of using marijuana for medical purposes.

"You can't get 88 percent in a poll of almost anything," said Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery County, who's helped lead the medical marijuana push in Pennsylvania. "If you ask people if you want to be eaten by wolverines, less than 88 percent would say no."

Leach said the poll is further proof that there's virtually unanimous support for medical marijuana in the state.

"It's no longer controversial and it's no longer an issue," he said. "It's an embarassment that we haven't passed it yet."

Last year, the Senate passed a bill co-sponsored by Leach and Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County. But that legislation failed to make it to the House floor.

Several House members continue to raise concerns about medical marijuana --particularly in how it would be overseen -- and there are at least two different bills being worked on.

Even so, Leach said, he remains confident that medical marijuana will pass this year. A recent informal tally, he said, showed that about 160 House members support the initiative.

"We just want them to pass a bill," he said. "Then we'll go to conference committee and work out any differences."

A smaller majority, 51 percent, said they supported legalizing the personal use of small amounts of marijuana by adults. Forty-five percent on those polled oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana while about 5 percent did not have an opinion.

However, when it comes to their own personal use, just 15 percent of Pennsylvanians said they would probably of definitely use marijuana if it were made legal.

"Bare majorities in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania say they support allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, and more than eight in 10 say it should be available for medical uses," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the poll, in a written statement.

But Brown said it should be noted that, despite a majority, a 2014 Florida referendum on medical marijuana fell short of the 60 percent required for passage.

LISTEN: Hear a recent interview with medical marijuana advocate Dana Ulrich via PennLive's Keystone Q&A podcast on iTunes or by streaming it at the bottom of this article or on SoundCloud.

Leach said recreational marijuana will have a tougher climb in the Pennsylvania Legislature, but he believes that will also eventually pass as more and more states follow the lead of Alaska and Colorado.

"Like marriage equality, at a certain point, there'll be a tipping point," he said.

The poll also asked about Gov. Tom Wolf's job performance in his first three months in office. In all, 44 percent approved and 34 percent disapproved, with 22 percent undecided.

It also showed that incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey currently leads Democratic challenger Joe Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral and U.S. congressman, 48-35 in a rematch for the seat in 2016.

"It's an uphill fight for Joe Sestak who has to chip away at U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's approval numbers while trying to win over Pennsylvanians who just don't know enough about him," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll, in a written statement.

Quinnipiac used a combination of land lines and cell phones to conduct the poll. The respondents self-identified as registered voters in a random sample of adults.